


When Summer Blooms

by the1the8



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, College, Cute, Friendship, M/M, Roommates, Summer, i love you ally, my friend ally appears as Jun's partner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 14:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15121496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the1the8/pseuds/the1the8
Summary: Soonyoung’s summer is suddenly occupied with a liberal arts course and a cute boy named Wonwoo.





	When Summer Blooms

The sun shined through the window, beaming lights in the room as Jihoon woke up from the summer heat. He was lying on his stomach and his sweatpants on one leg was pulled up to his knee. Jihoon lazily got himself up, eyes still closed as he walked to the bathroom to wash up. His head bumped onto the closed door as he hissed in pain. 

The summer weather probably got onto him, as his roommates would tease. Jun was continuing his waiter job going from part-time to full-time (switching back when fall semester starts) and Soonyoung was taking one summer course to fulfill his credits to graduate on time with a part-time job on the side at one of their university’s library cafes. Jihoon, on the other hand, had the same job as Soonyoung but these days, he would rather stay in their apartment because it had AC and it would keep his body cooled from the heat. 

As Jihoon entered the kitchen, remembering that Jun would be gone that morning, he sent a text to Soonyoung, asking where he was. Soonyoung didn’t have his summer class that morning so Jihoon wondered how he could have forgotten about watching their crime investigation shows together. A thought came to Jihoon that he shouldn’t complain because he ended up sleeping in, but he sent the text anyway. 

Jihoon set his phone on the dining table to grab a bowl on the dish rack and opened the cereal cabinet when he heard rustles outside of the door. It became unlocked and Soonyoung’s head popped in as he checked to see if the coast was clear. It looked sneaky and Jihoon shook his head, witnessing his every move. 

“Well well well. What do we have here?” Jihoon said with sarcasm, a sly smirk forming on his lips. 

Soonyoung was startled but he came inside, taking off his shoes. “Sorry, Jihoon. I think I forgot about watching stuff with you.” Soonyoung awkwardly laughed, his hand scratching the back of his head. 

Jihoon walked toward Soonyoung. His arm curled up to his chest and his index finger poked at his chin. “Let me guess. You forgot because you suddenly had to take over a shift?” Jihoon knew how rare it was for Soonyoung to take a morning shift. 

Soonyoung shook his head with an innocent smile. “I was just at the library.” 

Jihoon leaned onto the counter at the side of him and gave Soonyoung a look. “It’s the first week of the semester. Why would you be there?” 

Soonyoung shrugged, “I just asked the librarian for a book I needed for a class.” 

“Sure.” Jihoon’s eyes rolled when he said again with ridicule. He walked back to his bowl and looked up at the cabinet that he opened. He noticed that the cereal boxes had been moved to the top shelf, a height that he could not reach without a chair. He sighed, his hand resting on his waist then he turned around to look at Soonyoung, “You also need to stop moving the cereal boxes.” 

“Maybe you should have taken my surveys last semester.” Sticking out his tongue, Soonyoung snickered and walked away to sit down on the couch. Quickly, he hid his blushing face at the thought of what happened at the library. He didn’t know how to bring it up to his roommates and just melted on the couch. 

“You’re still onto that?” Jihoon asked in disbelief. He brought a chair over to grab to set the cereal boxes back to where they belong (the bottom shelf of the cabinet). He got down and poured some into his bowl. “Just let it go.” 

Jihoon came over to Soonyoung after pouring milk into his cereal bowl. He took a bite as he sat down with him. He noticed Soonyoung trying to avoid eye contact with him and his facial features were squished together as if he had something to say. Jihoon knew something happened at the library so he asked, “What? Why is your face is red?” 

“Nothing.” Soonyoung shook his head, his pale face told Jihoon it’s not. Soonyoung suddenly had the urge to tell someone so he turned to Jihoon, holding onto his wrist. That grip almost spilled Jihoon’s cereal when Jihoon glared at him. Soonyoung whispered a sorry quickly and told Jihoon, “So you know, I went to the library to get the book I need for my summer class and coincidently, the person I asked for it knew about the book.” 

“And?” Jihoon said, a smirk at his lips. He found himself pulled into this interesting story, not knowing how he would react when Soonyoung finished. 

“Well, I offered to have discussions about the book with him and he couldn’t refuse because he loved the book. You know what this means?” 

“What? You’re gonna ask him to be your boyfriend?” Jihoon said, not believing what he was hearing. Soonyoung shrugged, a glow on his face said he probably would. Woozi only wondered what to tell Jun, whether they will be okay with him like that. 

“He was so cute.” Soonyoung finally exploded with the biggest smile on his face as he melted on the couch like always before, “It must be my lucky underwear.” 

\---- 

Jihoon told Jun about Soonyoung’s new love interest that night when Jun returned from work while Soonyoung went to his night class. Actually, Jihoon wanted to say “friend interest” but such situation seemed more than that. With honesty, that’s how they keep updated with each other. 

They were both lying on their stomachs over soft mats, looking out the window and into the busy street in front of them. The sky was turning orange, it was too pretty to say anything about it because the only thing on Jihoon’s mind was Soonyoung. When Jihoon spilled the beans, Jun was disbelief as well, but he shrugged. 

“People change so we’ll just see how this goes.” Jun’s smile made Jihoon felt relieved. Maybe because Jihoon needed reassurance that Soonyoung will be okay after all of those break-ups from his previous relationships. Soonyoung would usually be the one with the broken heart (because he got dumped in all of his relationships), but he seemed so happy about the current potential lover that Jun thought the healing times with them helped Soonyoung to what he was today since his last break-up from six months ago. 

“I guess you’re right.” Jihoon rolled over to lie on his back as he closed his eyes. He pulled an arm behind his head and sighed peacefully with no worries. He had always felt skeptical of Soonyoung moving from relationship to relationship so quickly (not this time though -- maybe) but talking to Jun seemed to make his thought more clear of what they want for Soonyoung. 

“Say, did Soonyoung tell who it was?” Jun asked in interest. He followed Jihoon and rested on his back. He turned to his side, a folded arm holding his head to look at his roommate. 

“No, he didn’t. Why?” Jihoon’s voice sounded drowsy as if he was falling asleep, despite waking up so late that afternoon. He guessed he’s just having a lazy-kind-of day. 

“Oh really? I thought I might know him.” Jun looked up, nodding with his eyes blinking in curiosity out into the evening sky. 

Jihoon chuckled quietly, Jun turning to him. He opened his eyes to look at Jun and before he closed them again, he replied, “Yeah, you know too many people.” 

“It’s called networking.” Jun winked at him, laughing after. Jihoon whispered a “whatever” as he chucked again, turning away comfortably. Jun groaned as he stretched when he rolled onto his back. “By the way, are we out of popsicles?” 

“Yeah, I ate them all today.” 

“I knew it.” Jun had felt lazy to check when he came home a while ago. He needed something refreshing before the hot summer night ends so he rolled to his side and rested his head onto his palm, smiling at Jihoon. “You should go buy some with me.” 

“Right now?” Jihoon’s voice rosed. He’s going to work in twelve hours; he would rather stay where he was right now than go out and do errands this late with Jun. He imagined all of the snacks Jun would buy (Jun would pay for them but Jihoon was skeptical about their goals of not snacking too much for their health for that summer) and his mind just scrambled to look for a way to get out of this. “You’re just using this moment to go see your girlfriend.” Jihoon then saw Jun’s puppy face that nodded fusely at him and he knew he couldn’t reject the request. 

Of course, Jun would go to his girlfriend, Ally, at the cash register first, then usually later the chips section when they reached the store. He didn’t go this time. Jun and Ally had not been able to hang out before spring semester ended. They had hoped to do more things together now but it seemed that after Jun accepted the full-time offer for the summer from his job, their schedules wouldn’t change. At least they would find ways to meet, Jihoon thought. Ally waved at him and he smirked at the two lovebirds before he picked a few things out. 

Jihoon walked over them with his basket of snacks and set it on top of the counter. 

“You got what you need?” Ally asked, a smile forming naturally. 

“Yep.” Jihoon said, then he panned his hand from Jun to Ally, reminding Jun to pay. Jun nodded, his eyes closing with a hard smile. As Ally was scanning the snacks, she noticed Jihoon’s straight face, even though he would always show it, and felt like something was on his mind. 

“Is something bothering you?” Ally asked, her eyes squinting at her friend twin behind her big glasses. 

“You catch right on, babe.” Jun winked at her and got a glare from Jihoon. Jihoon sighed after looking away from his roommate. 

“It’s nothing, really. I mean, you know, just Soonyoung problems.” Jihoon said so choppily. He thought talking to Jun would be enough to let Soonyoung be but at this moment, he might need another reassurance about whatever Soonyoung was doing because two was always better than one. 

“You just need some fresh air.” Jun shrugged undeniably. “We’re here to support him.” 

“Well,” Ally’s lips was pushed to one side before she continued, “When Jun and I are having problems, we would confront it right away. I don’t know if it’s a really big problem, but you should definitely talk to Soonyoung about it.” 

“He hates it though, when we worry about him.” Jihoon said, a quiet sigh being exhaled. 

“Then just let him be.” Ally shrugged then she smiled. It beamed more than red scanner in front of them. “If it becomes a problem for him, he would at least come to you, right?” She’s not wrong. Whether it’s about his academics or relationships, Soonyoung would always come to Jihoon and Jun first. They even helped him with getting into the summer class he needed, which didn’t take long to do. Jihoon nodded, taking the bag of snacks from Ally after Jun paid with his card. Ally flashed one helpful smile at him, “Jihoon, don’t worry too much. See you later.” 

“See you then.” Jihoon smiled back at her. He let the two say their goodbyes and reminders to text or call later, the usual relationship interaction as he walked out of the store first. He sighed, his eyes looking up at the clear dark night sky. He didn’t have anything to say about it staring back at him, so he nodded and said to himself, “That’s right. I should just let him be.” 

Jihoon took out a popsicle, his favorite flavor of orange before Jun finally came out. 

“Oh hey, I want one on the way back too!” Jun excitedly ran his hand into the opened bag in Jihoon’s hand and took one out to eat as they started to walk back to their apartment together. Jun glanced at Jihoon, noticing his changed facial expression, then he looked forward with him. “Jihoon, I understand it all. Let’s just see how this will go, okay? Besides, I’m sure things will go well.” 

“So easy for you to say.” Jihoon scoffed. “But I guess I’ll just stay still, for now.”

“Stay still for what?” Soonyoung suddenly jumped behind the two, his arms and weight pressing against their shoulders. His face was bright and his big smile bloomed at the two, who are blinking at him. “What’s up, guys!” He noticed the two eating and gasped. His hand quickly grabbed Jun’s other half, flavor of grape, breaking it and tasting it. He smiled and sighed in awe, the cold taste was perfect after sitting so long in his class. 

“What the heck? What happened?” Jun asked, his eyes widened at Soonyoung. He didn’t know if he was surprised at Soonyoung stealing his other half or at him suddenly coming back already when he should be done an hour later. Jihoon kept walking, listening to the conversation. 

“Class ended early.” Soonyoung said as he got off the two and dabbed softly in celebration, twice, to the right then to the left. Jihoon and Jun stopped and turned to look at him when he stepped with his cheer. 

“That’s great, so you can finally sleep early for tomorrow’s morning shift and not wake me up in the middle of the night with whatever noises you make.” Jihoon smirked. He pointed his popsicle at Soonyoung’s face, a laugh bursting afterwards. 

“Aww man, I don’t want to think about waking up tomorrow.” Soonyoung sighed, his crying noise made Jun and Jihoon laughed as they walked together again. 

“How was class?” Jun asked out of curiosity, tapping his chest. 

“The same. Nothing much.” Soonyoung said with a shrug. He looked at Jun and asked, “What about you? Did I miss anything while I was gone?”

“You missed Ally’s tedtalk with Jihoon.” Jihoon punched Jun’s arm as he moaned in pain. 

“It was nothing.” Jihoon said, shaking his head swiftly. 

“Are you sure? It doesn’t seem like it.” Soonyoung twisted his head at Jihoon and he nodded. “Well, okay.” Soonyoung nodded slowly, his eyes slightly squinting at Jihoon. Something smelled fishy but Soonyoung shrugged, not noticing Jihoon glaring at Jun. Luckily, Soonyoung typically struggles to stay focused at one thing at a time as he continued, deeply inhaling the nice hot air, “Anyway, don’t you feel like summer is finally starting?” 

“Summer started a month ago since we got that heat wave back in May.” Jun said. He looked at Soonyoung, blinking fast in confusion. “I don’t get it.” 

“Whatever, the breeze feels nice.” Soonyoung closed his eyes and felt the wind touching his face. A thought of Wonwoo came to his mind while Jihoon shook his head, smiling at the two and Jun still had the same confused look as they entered their apartment building. 

\---- 

It’s almost 8AM as Jihoon and Soonyoung were working at the cafe. It was an unusual time for Soonyoung because he would complain about working morning shifts all the time. Today would be his first in a month since finals week last semester. That’s probably why he was so cranking about everything in his way in the small workspace behind the counters that morning. Jihoon looked over after taking an order, seeing a mumbling Soonyoung at the coffee maker machine. He smirked then he quickly met the eyes of the next customer, the student in front of him that he recognized. 

“Hello, what can I get for you,” Jihoon’s habit of making a sound of ‘ahhh’ came out when he’s thinking. “Wonwoo, right?” 

Soonyoung’s head turned around as his work came to a short halt. Wonwoo was in shorts, Soonyoung couldn’t noticed the color of Wonwoo’s bag that was camouflage with it, but he could see the strap that was hanged on Wonwoo’s shoulder. His mind was swooned at how well it matched him, almost as if it was his style. Soonyoung watched Wonwoo smile at Jihoon before his face flushed as red as a fresh tomato in the summer. 

“Yes,” Wonwoo giggled, the sound of it made Soonyoung’s heart race. “I’ll get the regular.” 

Jihoon’s fisted hand motioned in success. It was such a barista thing to remember names. He didn’t know he was so good at it. Maybe because Wonwoo recently became a regular in the morning for the new summer semester, Jihoon recognized him from the same time he would appear at and the same drink he got each time. 

“Okay, cafe latte.” Jihoon quickly wrote Wonwoo’s order and name on the cup and set it to the side where the line of cups started. Wonwoo paid with his card and as they waited for his card to go through, his eyes gazed at the menu naturally. Jihoon gave him a smile after the order was through. “We got your order.” 

“Thanks.” Wonwoo smiled back. 

“You’re welcome. See you again.” Wonwoo walked to the order pick-up counter, passing by the coffee machine. 

Soonyoung’s head peeked up to see him. Jihoon was glad there weren’t any other customers after Wonwoo and checked on Soonyoung again. “What are you doing, Soonyoung?” 

That gave Soonyoung a jumpscare. His face was still red when he turned his head to the voice. “Nothing.” 

“Soonyoung?” Wonwoo said when he heard Soonyoung’s name being called. “Is that you?” 

Soonyoung finished the drink he was making for a waiting customer and set it on the counter as he called out the order. He revealed his face to Wonwoo and smiled, hoping to impress him. “Hey, Wonwoo.” 

“Ah, I didn’t know you work here.” Wonwoo giggled a little. His wide smile still showed how surprised -- or perhaps how happy he was to see Soonyoung. 

“Yeah, I’ve been working here since last semester.” Soonyoung started to make Wonwoo’s order when he looked away. 

“I see.” Wonwoo nodded then their previous meeting suddenly came to his mind. “Ah, we’re meeting again tomorrow at the courtyard?” 

“Yep.” Soonyoung almost giggled, “You could of just text me.” 

“I was going to later, but I guess not anymore,” Wonwoo giggled shortly along. 

“You better watch out for a text later from me then.” Soonyoung tilted his head with a mischievous smile, as if he was teasing Wonwoo. Jihoon gave him a displeased look as he watched how Soonyoung flirt. 

“I will.” Wonwoo said, nodding at the obvious answer of his. He saw the shimmering eyes of Soonyoung’s when Soonyoung smiled and gave him his order. 

“Here’s your cafe latte.” Soonyoung’s body felt hot when Wonwoo’s hands slightly cupped his fingers. He was sure it wasn’t from the hot cup and he blushed, bidding goodbye to Wonwoo. He wondered how he could create a conversation with the person he had a crush on but on his toes, he continued to wave at Wonwoo even though he wasn’t looking back. 

“So it was Wonwoo.” Jihoon smirked when he stood next to him. His arms crossed as he watched Wonwoo walk away with Soonyoung. 

“Guess I should come work in the morning now.” Soonyoung whispered breathlessly and turned happily to Jihoon, tapping his shoulder as Jihoon exhaled in disbelief but with a smile. 

At that moment, they didn’t realize Wonwoo looking back at them. He smiled at Soonyoung’s lively movements as he felt like summer was going to be interesting. 

\---- 

Wonwoo dropped his bag onto the couch after entering his shared apartment and set his coffee cup onto the table in front of it. It’s quiet, Wonwoo wasn’t used to it yet since his roommate, Seokmin went back home after finals. He could use the time to get lost into his novels and educational texts but he found himself checking his social network accounts, which he doesn’t do often. Seokmin would be so shock if he knew Wonwoo was online 

Wonwoo noticed Seokmin had posted a picture of his parents’ strawberry fields that he’d always brag about, his caption of ‘glad to be home’ with enough exciting emojis. Wonwoo would say those reflected on Seokmin’s bright personality so he definitely wouldn’t complain about it. 

Wonwoo smiled, his finger clicked the empty white heart, turning it red. To the little devil of his wordless mind at that moment, Seokmin was calling him. He wasn’t expecting any call, but Wonwoo gladly took the call, “Hey Seokmin.” 

“Wonwoo!” Seokmin laughed by surprise. It made Wonwoo grin widely. “Are you doing okay?”

“No, I lost a leg while you left for war.” Wonwoo joked and Seokmin laughed again, reminded of their procrastination nights working on their school projects and papers together when they tried to beat their deadlines. They had called those nights the ‘warzones’ and themselves as ‘warriors’ trying to make it through the night for a better tomorrow. Those nights would turn to rough mornings of running for coffee and rushing to class. 

“I hope you aren’t drinking coffee anymore.” Seokmin pretended to sniff and his voice sounded funny over the phone. Wonwoo assumed he had his nose covered. “I can smell your breath.” 

“I can’t help it. I still feel like I have a ton to do.” Wonwoo confessed with a shrug.

“That’s the effect of constantly working throughout the semester. I guess you just need to find something to distract yourself, like I am now.” Wonwoo could see Seokmin’s smiling face when he said that. He was right, Wonwoo agreed. He nodded and whispered to himself an “I guess.” 

“Okay, but how much ‘fun’ are you having back home?” Wonwoo asked, referring to the photo Seokmin had posted. 

“Why? Is it too quiet over there?” Seokmin frowned, his voice sounded like he felt bad. He smiled as he sighed. “It’s great, so relaxing. If I could, I would bring you here to see my parents’ garden.” 

“It’s okay because you can always bring back some strawberries for me.” Wonwoo replied and Seokmin laughed again, quite amused. 

“Should I? Have you fallen for them more than me?” Seokmin gasped when he asked. 

Wonwoo hissed, his head turning to the side. “I don’t know. I probably have.” 

“Oh, Wonwoo. You can’t do that to me, after so many months of suffering together.” Seokmin cried which made Wonwoo chuckled. Seokmin knew Wonwoo was just joking and while Wonwoo could hear some things over the phone, probably Seokmin’s parents asking him to come back and help, Seokmin sighed sadly, “I gotta go but can you tell me how you’re really doing? Just to make sure that you’re doing fine.” 

“Well… Yeah, things are fine over here.” Wonwoo wondered about telling Seokmin about Soonyoung. They weren’t a ‘thing’ yet but it seemed worth the talk, or maybe more like, Wonwoo had to tell someone about it. “But it has gotten interesting.” 

“What kind of things?” 

Wonwoo hummed, teasing Seokmin. “Maybe I’m meeting a person?” 

“Ohhhh Wonwoo!” Seokmin sounded excited, his voice was at full blast in Wonwoo’s ear. His reaction made Wonwoo grinned widely. “Tell me more later, would you?” 

“Of course. See you later. Thanks for calling.” 

Wonwoo let the phone off his ear and he set it on the table. He let his body fall onto the couch with his arms above him. He smiled at the thought of Soonyoung and hoped he won’t fall asleep there, even though he just had coffee. 

He somehow felt thankful to Soonyoung. Wonwoo wasn’t such a risk taker or a person who can continue conversations unless they were of his interest. Book discussions was what he liked and when Soonyoung asked, he couldn’t reject because he wanted to help him. And by helping someone out, Wonwoo didn’t know it would lead him into Soonyoung. He wanted to know him more. It seemed like a natural thing to do when you become interested in someone. 

\---- 

Soonyoung and Wonwoo were sitting on the grass of the courtyard in front of their school’s large auditorium building with a cement patio of tables and chairs in between. The sun was beaming in the clear blue sky and the two were under the shade casted by the tree beside them. Their opened bags and water bottles were beside them, both items being similar in shades of navy blue. 

With the same book in their hands as they should be discussing the text, Soonyoung noticed the different colored pen marks in Wonwoo’s copy of the book and asked about it. 

Wonwoo gave him a smile, the pen between his fingers being flipped around them as he looked back at the book, “I learned it from a professor during my first semester. He said that each time you reread a book, you should mark your ideas and see how they’ve changed or if they open new ideas that you haven’t thought of before. It’s fascinating to see how my thoughts changed when I reread old books.” 

“That’s quite impressive.” Soonyoung nodded and Wonwoo smiled at him before turning back to gaze at the pages. He noticed Wonwoo playing with the pen in his hand. He wrote something down on the page before sliding the pen above his ear. Soonyoung’s hand reached for the pen’s lid on the grass and he started to play with it as he continued, “I don’t want to do that to books. I like to keep them clean and readable.” 

“That’s why I buy two copies. One for note-taking and one for collection.” 

Soonyoung nodded in awe. “That’s also impressive. I should start doing that.” 

Soonyoung grabbed his book that was filled with post-it notes sticking out on the grass and opened to the pages that they were discussing. As Wonwoo talked about what he thought about the pages, Soonyoung could only stare at his face. He liked how Wonwoo turned to look at the page and back at him. Soonyoung didn’t noticed that he wasn’t listening to what Wonwoo was saying. He only smiled when Wonwoo was finished, not wanting to be caught off guard. They emmensed back into the pages as Wonwoo noticed Soonyoung’s blushing face hiding in his text as he started to discuss. Wonwoo smiled, almost blushing too. It made his heart raced a little. 

When silence fell in the middle of the conversation, Soonyoung couldn’t help to look over at Wonwoo. 

“Not to diss literature or anything but discussing with you really helped me understand this class better.” Soonyoung confessed and sighed as if he needed to cool down. Wonwoo stared at him, his lips were stiff into a hard smile. Soonyoung noticed his judging facial expression and protested, “I mean, it’s been a long time since I felt resonated to what I read. I guess motivation plays a part in it.” 

Soonyoung awkwardly laughed, gulping afterwards. He found himself blushing when Wonwoo continued to stare at him. His smiling face was still painted there when Wonwoo asked, “What kind of motivation?” 

“Well… You?” Soonyoung said calmly. He saw Wonwoo’s surprised face. It started to look more confused and he thought it was the perfect moment to say, “I think liking you was a motivation.” Wonwoo didn’t blink at all. He was just trying to comprehend what he heard from Soonyoung’s pretty mouth that suddenly beamed so softly. The warm breeze made spotty shadows of the trees run across Soonyoung’s beautiful face as he continued, “I like you a lot. I just thought you should know.” 

“Is that so?” Wonwoo replied three seconds later he watched the breeze blow Soonyoung’s hair softly. 

They stared into each other’s eyes in the cool shade for a while. There seemed to be something filling in the air around them. Perhaps, the smell of books? To Wonwoo, it was definitely a start of a new fresh book. Soonyoung wouldn’t call it that. Instead, he would just call it love. 

\--- 

After that short confession, Wonwoo offered to take Soonyoung to his favorite bookstore, one of which they could sit down and just enjoy a book with no interruptions. He found Soonyoung quite distracting though, as he showed him the sections of his favorite books: history and psychology. Soonyoung could only gaze at Wonwoo in surprise, he was way more surprise about Wonwoo sharing a part of him with him. That meant so much to him that he had to ask Wonwoo out for some dinner. 

“I know a good place where one of my roommate works at.” Soonyoung told Wonwoo when he dropped Wonwoo off at his apartment. 

“Will I get to meet them?” Wonwoo asked when he turned around to face Soonyoung with the front door behind him. 

“Of course. He’s a great cook.” Soonyoung’s cheeks rolled up high. It made him look like a hamster, making Wonwoo grin widely. 

“Okay, see you tomorrow then. Good night.” Wonwoo waved at him as Soonyoung did the same back. He watched Wonwoo safely get inside the building before walking back to his apartment, each step leaving a happy tap behind. 

\---- 

The next night came as Soonyoung had already told Jun and Jihoon their dinner date. Jun found it funny that Soonyoung recommended the restaurant he works at. That gave him room to joke that he’ll mess up his date’s order just to piss Soonyoung off. 

“Please don’t. I want this to go well.” Soonyoung cried and held onto Jun’s sleeves. Jun laughed and Jihoon shook his head as he watched the two fight. 

“Well, yes. For the sake of Wonwoo, yes I will stop.” Jun said. 

“What? Do you know Wonwoo or something?” Soonyoung sounded shock. His mouth stayed opened at Jun, who laughed again and nodded. 

“Yeah. I had a class with him once.” 

Soonyoung leaned close to Jun, his eyes glaring in curiosity. “Tell me more.” 

“Well, he’s pretty smart. He talks so well and is usually quiet.” 

“That’s it? Isn’t there more?” Soonyoung asked in desperation. 

“I wasn’t as close to him as you are now.” Jun shrugged and frowned at Soonyoung, who was still in his sweats. “You should go get changed. That date can’t go well with that.” 

“Jun, tell me more! I know you know!” Soonyoung cried again, watching Jun walk away toward the door. 

“I gotta go to work, kid. See you there.” 

“Tell Ally to come too.” Jihoon reminded across the room at Jun, who snapped his fingers at him. They needed someone to watch the two since Jun had to be in the kitchen of his workplace while Jihoon doesn’t like to spy on people since it would bored him out. 

“You’re right. See ya then!” Jun quickly waved at the two, putting on his shoes. 

“Jun please! Tell me!” Soonyoung cried again, crawling onto the floor after Jun closed the door. Jihoon shook his head and headed into his room with his hands in his pockets. 

\---- 

The restaurant was a traditional hamburger style-type, one that Wonwoo loves. The fact that he got to design his own burger, he knew this was going to be a place that he’ll go to often now. 

“This place really is great.” Wonwoo smiled, “Thanks for taking me here.” 

“I remember you telling me how much you love burgers.” Soonyoung smiled back, his eyes curving in happiness. “You’re welcome.” 

Wonwoo had to admit how nervous he was about eating out with Soonyoung. It wasn’t such a thing that Wonwoo would do with his friends since he’s used to making home-cooked food. Maybe he should invite him over some time when they become closer. The thought of it made Wonwoo’s face glow as he looked down on the table, as if he was looking away into his own world. When he looked back of Soonyoung, who looked nervous, his smile disappeared. 

“Hey, are you okay? You’re sweating so much.” Wonwoo asked with worry filled on his face. 

Soonyoung smiled quickly at him, hesitating as he tried to wipe some away with the napkin in front of him. A waiter came by, setting the dishes they ordered on the table. 

There were three things on his mind right now. One, the fight with Jihoon over the underwear that “helped” him meet Wonwoo, to which Soonyoung thought his roommates hid it so he wouldn’t end well with Wonwoo. Jihoon’s line of “You can’t possibly believe in your one and only “lucky” underwear,” still lingered his in mind, making him more furious than he should. The date was going well without that undergarment, even with the second thing that was on his mind; that of Jun, who didn’t mess up any orders at their tables. Soonyoung still felt skeptical about what Jun would do to his date. He glanced at the door that would lead into the restaurant kitchen and glared at it. And the third and last thing on his mind? Ally spying over at the end table with another friend, it seemed. Despite confirming that she had come to the same place to hang out with a friend, he still felt being watched. 

“Soonyoung?” Wonwoo called his name. 

Soonyoung met his eyes and realized, it was instead, Wonwoo who had been watching him. He smiled brightly with every thought vanishing from his mind, “Sorry, I think it’s just a little hot in here.” 

“Is that so?” Wonwoo smiled in relief but Soonyoung couldn’t tell if it was a smirk instead. 

Soonyoung couldn’t read what Wonwoo was thinking about so he smiled back and said, “Let’s eat.” 

Luckily, it was after a successful dinner without any interruptions from Soonyoung’s friends when Wonwoo decided for them to get some ice cream on the way back to his place. Soonyoung was sitting on a bench, waiting outside of the convenience store while Wonwoo was in there, buying the treat. 

“What took you so long?” Soonyoung said when Wonwoo came out of the store. 

Wonwoo smiled at him as if he got caught for stealing something. “It wasn’t that long.” 

“It was for me.” Soonyoung argued, his face suddenly bloomed when he stood up. “Why did you stop by here?” 

“Because you needed to cool down.” Wonwoo handed him a cone, an unbelievable smirk painted on his face. “Here.” 

“Thanks.” Soonyoung said as he grabbed it. 

They started to walk to Wonwoo’s place after Soonyoung insisted that he would when Wonwoo said he didn’t have to. Wonwoo loved it though. There was treasure in his eyes that Soonyoung wanted to lead the night for him. What can Wonwoo do when he’s also in love with him? 

Wonwoo tried to line his steps with Soonyoung’s until he decided to race to Wonwoo’s place, which resulted his cone falling onto the sidewalk cement, top first. Wonwoo bursted into laughter, handing his cone to a sad-looking Soonyoung. 

When they reached the apartment door, they stood in front of each other, giving longing looks. 

“Ah, that walk was too short.” Soonyoung said, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry, I ate your cone too.” 

“You really needed it though.” Wonwoo grinned, his foot twisted onto the ground in embarrassment. “Then, I’ll see you later?” 

“Yeah, good night.” Soonyoung looked at Wonwoo’s lips. He could admit that he’s been nervous all day because he wanted to kiss him good night after the date, but he’s wondering how he was going to do it not so out of the blue because it would make it awkward and he hates awkward shit. He’s punching himself in the stomach as he meet Wonwoo’s eyes again. 

“Good night.” Wonwoo’s voice sounded small as he stood there, giving Soonyoung a smile. He didn’t want to turn away yet and looked into Soonyoung’s eyes. 

There, Soonyoung took a step forward, a hand and arm rolling around Wonwoo’s back before their faces got close, nose almost touching. Wonwoo could feel Soonyoung’s cool breath hitting his face before Soonyoung chilled him with his lips. The taste of vanilla was still there as Wonwoo breathed out, his hands holding against Soonyoung’s waist and his lips taking the savoring taste. Wonwoo thought, maybe he was the one who needed to cool down. 

\----

A few weeks went by as Soonyoung’s class has finally ended. His relationship with Wonwoo had escalated to more comfortable levels of hugging by the doors, feet touching under the table, and stealing kisses in quiet places. Soonyoung loves it, so does Wonwoo. The only problem was the break they had during the last week of class for Soonyoung. He hadn’t heard from Wonwoo for almost a week and he thought sending a text would get him the answer. 

As Soonyoung was taking an afternoon nap on the couch, Jihoon and Jun were lying on the floor, eating popsicles and enjoying the soccer game on the TV. 

Jihoon had finally felt relieved over Soonyoung’s relationship with Wonwoo as he didn’t turn back to look at him with any worry on his face. Jihoon laughed with Jun as Soonyoung woke up. He saw his roommates in front of him before he checked his phone, hoping to see something from Wonwoo. When Soonyoung saw that Wonwoo hadn’t replied back, he let his body fall onto the couch. 

“Are you awake?” Jihoon asked when he felt the vibration of Soonyoung moving. Jun and Jihoon turned around to look at him, but Jun turned back at the TV without a care. Jihoon stayed looking to ask, “Is something wrong?” 

“Yeah.” Soonyoung said, his voice was quiet. “I haven’t heard from Wonwoo since the last week of class.” 

Jun was listening to the conversation and knew he had to ask, “Did he tell you where he would be?” 

“No.” 

“Not even a sign?” Jun said, looking back at Soonyoung, who shook his head tiredly. “Wow, love is so interesting.” Jun’s voice was filled with sarcasm. He nodded his head and Jihoon stared at him. “It totally exists everywhere.” 

“What has gotten into you?” Jihoon shook his head with a smirk, yet his concern for Soonyoung still sat on the back of his mind. He looked back at the game and continued, “You’re so funny.” 

Jun laughed, following Jihoon. “I’m saying, Wonwoo probably has that love syndrome thing where you get drained from so much loving, but hey, don’t you worry. He will be back because that’s part of being sick from it.” 

“I’ve never heard of that shit before.” Jihoon said with his eyes staying stuck on the TV, not giving a damn about Jun’s theory. 

\--- 

Soonyoung ended up finding himself lying on the grass where he and Wonwoo would usually do their book discussions. It’s so funny to him that it was raining right now. He looked up at the gray sky, wondering how the rain resonated with him so much. It felt like winter since he last saw Wonwoo. Everything was cold and miserable. Heck, he wouldn’t mind it the weather became a storm because he had wondered what it was like to be struck by lightning. 

Soonyoung’s fingers was touching the grass when he found a pen lid in his palm. He looked at it, bringing it up to his face. He almost choked when he realized it was Wonwoo’s. He remembered since Wonwoo had a habit of taking them out. Just when Soonyoung wondered if it was the end for them, the rain stopped pouring onto his face. He looked up and saw Wonwoo standing there. Wonwoo was shocked and he blinked a few times under his umbrella. 

“Soonyoung, is that you?” Wonwoo asked. “Are you drunk?” 

“I’m not drunk, I-I swear!” Soonyoung protested, getting up quickly. He fixed his wet hair as if he wanted to impress Wonwoo. “I just- miss you.” 

Wonwoo laughed, it was a happy sound, or perhaps an “I’m glad you said that” sound. “Do you want to come over to my place?” Wonwoo looked into the distance and back at the puppy eyes of Soonyoung’s. He didn’t know why he would ask that, especially since Soonyoung’s soaking wet. It must be the way his eyes exuded attention. He didn’t mind it though. “It’s close by.” 

\---- 

Soonyoung showered at Wonwoo’s place and learned that Wonwoo had gone to see his roommate, Seokmin, to grab some strawberries that his family grew. Now, he didn’t have to worry about Wonwoo leaving him. That would be the last thing on his mind at this moment. 

Wonwoo had prepared some hot tea for the two, setting them on the table in front of him on the couch. He heard Soonyoung coming out of the bathroom and turned his head at him. 

“Wow, your place looks nice. It must be expensive living here.” Soonyoung confessed as he wiped his wet hair with a towel Wonwoo provided. He didn’t realize how spacious it was when he entered the place, as well as how new it looked. Even the windows in the living room had a perfect view of the city. 

Wonwoo smiled at the compliment and at Soonyoung who fit so well in the clothes he provided. His arms were crossed while he was sitting on the couch and he followed to look at Soonyoung, who was at the side of it. “My roommate went back home for the summer. I’m planning to move out after summer since they didn’t renew their lease.” 

“That’s too bad.” Soonyoung frowned as he looked around at the place. He turned to Wonwoo and without hesitation, he asked, “Why don’t you come live with me?” 

Wonwoo stared at Soonyoung, his eyes aren’t widened. Instead, they lit up like the stars at night and he responded, “Would that be okay?” 

“Of course.” Soonyoung nodded happily. “I’m sure my roommates don’t mind.” 

“Let’s talk to them later. I’m also sure they don’t mind since there will be less bill to pay.” Wonwoo grinned, moving a cup of tea toward Soonyoung. “Here, warm yourself up.” 

“Thanks!” Soonyoung said before he sat on the couch, sitting beside Wonwoo. 

Wonwoo leaned back, an arm resting above him and the other hand holding the cup that he sipped on. He softly sighed as Soonyoung blew onto his cup with two hands holding it before sipping it. The fresh taste hit him and he hummed in awe. It was perfect for the cold rainy weather. Soonyoung almost laughed at himself, thinking that Wonwoo was probably the only person who would drink hot tea in the middle of summer, but he turned to Wonwoo and smiled so brightly. “This is so refreshing.” 

“It’s freshly brewed. I got the pack from Seokmin.” Wonwoo said calmly. 

“That’s amazing. Can I take some strawberries?” Soonyoung asked. 

Wonwoo would assume that Soonyoung would rather take some tea since he was enjoying it just now but he laughed and nodded, “Yes, you can. I don’t think I’ll be able to finish it alone.” 

“Yay!” Soonyoung’ cheer was cute to Wonwoo, who grinned at his reaction. 

When they were finished with the tea, Soonyoung followed Wonwoo into the kitchen with the cups in his hands. Soonyoung helped wash them while Wonwoo took out some strawberries to wash after him. 

They sat in the kitchen, eating the red berries in silence. Wonwoo smiled down at them and confessed, “I’m a little nervous.” 

“About what?” Soonyoung mumbled, his cheeks were filled with the savoring strawberries. 

Wonwoo giggled at the sight and continued. “I hear you say this a lot. I’ve rehearsed it in my head a lot and I just didn’t think I’d have the chance to say it until now…” 

“What?” Soonyoung looked at Wonwoo right when he put another berry into his mouth, and found the eyes of someone in love. 

“I like you a lot.” Wonwoo softly smiled and it made Soonyoung’s heart race. “I know you do too.” 

“You didn’t have to tell me and make me blush as red as these strawberries.” Soonyoung cried, but it was gentle. Wonwoo giggled as he saw Soonyoung lined two strawberries up to his own cheeks. Setting them down, Soonyoung continued, “You can’t leave me again then. This is a confession, a promise you just made with me.” 

“I got it.” Wonwoo laughed, holding a strawberry in his hand. 

“That also reminds me,” Soonyoung’s face became serious and his voice changed funnily. Wonwoo looked at him, his face still shine as Soonyoung looked at him, “You’re going to the beach for three days with me and my roomies.” 

“What?” Wonwoo choked on a laugh, or maybe it was the strawberry he ate, but he was surprised at the sudden invite. 

“Yep, I’m inviting you without them knowing.” Soonyoung laughed wickedly then he leaned closer to Wonwoo over the table. “You’re going to have so much fun!” 

“How are we sleeping at the beach for three day?” Wonwoo asked, his voice was high, making it sound like he was excited for it. He was, Soonyoung could tell. Oddly, there wasn’t any hesitation when Wonwoo asked. He didn’t notice but if he did, he would blush and realized how comfortable he had gotten with Soonyoung, and that didn’t mean a bad thing. 

“We’re gonna sleep at Jun’s cousin’s place. I have to tell you, their place is small and sticky but hey, if you don’t like it then you can sleep in the car.” 

Wonwoo laughed, hearing Soonyoung do the same. Somehow, opening himself up to Soonyoung seemed to make him want him to do that more. Wonwoo found himself dreaming about the trip, how summer would end soon, and how fall semester would begin with Soonyoung. Looking at his beaming smile at that moment, Wonwoo knew he didn’t have to think of those if it came to Soonyoung. He had bloomed Wonwoo’s summer as Wonwoo realized, he had found a softness in him.

**Author's Note:**

> i really had hard time wondering how to end this story which i think was okay/ambiguous. i definitely had a great time writing this too! i'd like to thank the admins of this amazing ficfest, as well as my best buddy ally who has always been a great supporter in keeping me write! i love you ♡♡♡
> 
> anyone who read this far, thank you so so much! i hope you liked it! feel free to leave any comments below ♡


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